Welcome to Week 2!

Good afternoon parents,

Kaya, wanjoo...it's Week 2!

I hope that you enjoyed the weekend...a mix of beautiful sunshine followed up with a cool change and plenty of rain for the garden. A good excuse to curl up and finish my book if I ever needed one. 

I hope that you had some time to rest and recharge after a busy start back to school.

I would like to say a massive thank you to you all for having the students so well prepared. 

They came with all the bits and bobs needed to get underway and a positive attitude which has made this an absolutely wonderful start to term...I feel very blessed to be working with your beautiful children this year and I look forward to getting to know them better as the term progresses.

As a whole school, each week we choose a particular character strength to discuss and unpack and then look for where we see our classmates, friends and adults around us using this strength. 

It helps the students to identify their strengths within them and how they can use them to shine brightly in themselves as well as to help others.

Each Monday morning, we gather together to discuss the focus character strength and that it can look like.

This week in class we will be focusing on the character strength of Bravery.

WHAT IS BRAVERY?

To be brave is to face your challenges, threats, or difficulties. It involves valuing a goal or conviction and acting upon it, whether popular or not. A central element involves facing – rather than avoiding – fears.

There are three types of bravery (an individual may possess one of these or a combination):

• Physical bravery (e.g., firefighters, police officers, soldiers)
• Psychological bravery (e.g., facing painful aspects of oneself)
• Moral bravery (e.g., speaking up for what's right, even if it's an unfavorable opinion to a group)

This would provide a great conversation starter for your family around the dinner table, asking them where they have seen bravery or have been brave themselves. 

When our strengths are spotted by others and we are using them well, it helps us to feel strong and confident within ourselves.

A few reminders for the coming week...

COVID Protocols - Just a reminder to please make sure that you are using the SafeWA App to check in, using social distancing in any outside conversations and wearing a mask if you need to come into class...please note that you are very welcome to come in and have a chat if there is anything you need.

Compassion and connection are vital in these tough times and I am here if there is anything you need!

Swimming Lessons - These will continue all week, students are to continue wearing their sports uniform each day and are to bring their necessary gear. 

You would have received a message on Friday sharing that Shauno, the shovel-nosed shark had taken up residence in the shark net which prohibited the students from getting in the water on Friday. This gave the instructors a great chance to go through the water safety component of their stage and hopefully we will be in the water ready to go tomorrow!

It is looking a little cold, so if your child is prone to feeling the cold, perhaps consider a thicker rashie or wetsuit. Instructors will be assessing the students all week but please bear in mind it is only an 8 day program so if your child misses any of the sessions this week it may impact their progress through the stage.

Clear Book Covers - We spent last week getting our books labelled and organised within our drawers for all subject areas which the students loved! Can I please ask, if your child is missing any of the clear covers for either their exercise or scrap books, can you please either organise to get some or send them in if they are still at home.

These covers help our books to last the semester before we swap out our main books with the extras that your child brought home.

Laptop Agreements - The amazing Janine Johnson emailed a copy of these home to you last week, if I can please ask you to send your signed copy in with your child by Wednesday. 

If you are having any problems printing, please let me know and I can send home a hard copy with your child.

On this, please note that there will be very few occasions where homework will be assigned on the student laptops. They will have access to Reading Eggs and Mathletics which are great resources to consolidate or review content.

It is up to you how your child uses their laptop at home and I reinforce this with the students that they are not toys and belong to you.

Laptops - On this point, can I please ask you to spend 5-10 minutes with your child this week looking at their laptops. In particular One Note, this is where all work is placed for the students to access and where I place any background information, samples of learning or support resources.

In the event of any online learning occurring, it is very important that you and your child know how to use One Note.

Additionally, we also use Teams as another place for us to put links to work or other resources. We have had a chat with the students that this is not a space for organising play dates, saying hi 87 times or posting anything that is not related to their learning.

In the coming days, we will show the students how to access a Teams meeting via their calendar as this will be how we connect daily in the event of online learning.

Spending time looking at our child's laptop reinforces it educational value as well as showing them that you are interested in what they are learning about.

Being familiar with both of these platforms will also be very helpful in the event of an isolation/quarantine situation as all the work that is being covered in class will be placed there so your child is able to keep up with what is happening at school if they are well enough!

Pick Up Arrangements - If your child has a different pick up arrangement on a give day, I am more than happy for you to let me know if you think it necessary. 

I would suggest as well that you write it on their hand in Sharpie so it won't be forgotten...at the end of the day it gets busy and I hate forgetting to remind the students and causing any unnecessary angst for you!

Homework...

There is no formal homework set for this week except for reading each night and this is to be done for pleasure!

If you can get your child to read out loud to you for some or all of the reading this is a super helpful skill as it helps them to attend to meaning, which means as they are speaking they are hearing their pronunciation and content and then making sure that they are making sense.

I will be sending home an activity that we began last week for your child to complete. This is to be completed and then returned by Friday or before. Please note that some students may have already completed this so please check with your child!

Thank you again for a great start to the term, enjoy the week!

Kindest regards,

Mrs Delane